


Something (Comforting)

by pacers (Sylphius)



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Blood moon, First Meetings, Found Family, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Post-Breath of the Wild, and Four, botw au, don’t know how to tag so we’re winging it, featuring hyrule’s inability to cook, kinda. for everyone but twi, legend being unable to stop talking, meeting wild, theyre brothers, this is ALL platonic love and relationships, twilight was on wild’s adventure with him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26234092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylphius/pseuds/pacers
Summary: The gang finds themselves in a brand new Hyrule, searching for a new Hero, and there’s something incredibly familiar about the land that catches Twilight’s attention.
Relationships: Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 346





	Something (Comforting)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for this fandom, please be gentle, I just think they’re very neat

“Hyrule! Put it  _ down!”  _ Someone is shouting from the area closest to their makeshift campfire, sounding suspiciously like Four. 

“No.  _ No. _ ” Legend snaps, and there’s a heavy thunk. “No, you are  _ not  _ cooking  _ anything. _ ”

“What? Hey!” Hyrule whines back. “Someone has to do it!”

Twilight doesn’t even need to turn around to know Legend is seething. “Well, it won’t be you!” The red-clad Hero retorts. “Nobody here wants food poisoning!” 

Hyrule backs down, muttering crossly under his breath. 

They don’t quite know where they are. This isn’t a Hyrule that any of them recognize, the land open and wide and brimming with dangerous enemies. It feels familiar to Twilight, but honestly, he isn’t sure. This isn’t his homeland, he knows that much. There’s no sign to civilization for miles. Just the open sky. Well, that and the forest they’re camped out in. The fact that nobody can claim it can only mean one thing; they’re about to get a new teammate. 

There’s nothing but trees and monsters for miles. The sun is low in the sky, already having disappeared beyond the horizon, making the sky darken and a few stars light up as they continue to bicker over dinner. It’s not like they have a whole lot of food items anyway, just what they’ve found along the way. The trees above and around them are tall, waving gently in the soft breezes that kick in every now and again. The fire crackles as Hyrule continues to sulk and Legend and Four shoot glares at each other across it. Time doesn’t intervene, staring into the trees as if assessing them for a threat. 

Really, Twilight doesn’t think they’re in danger at the moment. This land feels somewhat familiar, even if he can’t quite place it. 

“Are you alright?” He decides on asking Time finally, stepping closer to the older man. 

“Yeah,” Time says, but he doesn’t stop watching the trees. “I’ll take the first watch. I’m not very tired.”

Honestly, he doesn’t have the energy to argue. They’ve been warped between worlds nonstop for the past few days, and he’s about ready to drop. “Fine. I’ll take second.”

“You took second last night.” Time says gently, tearing his eye away from the trees to hold Twilight’s gaze firmly. “Get some sleep.”

He really is tired, he muses to himself as he nods along. Someone else will take it, regardless of whether they want to or not. Probably either Warriors or Sky. “Don’t stay up all night, old man.” He warns as he steps back, closer to the fire. 

Time chuckles. “Good night, pup.”

Hyrule is burning something over the fire, and the smell of the burning kills whatever appetite he had left. Judging by the pained looks on Legend, Four, and Wind’s faces, he’s not the only one to feel nauseous. 

“Damn,” Legend says, exasperated, covering his mouth and nose with one hand. “Y’know what? We’ll just have a nice breakfast tomorrow. Okay? Great.” And then he flops back into the dirt and kicks one leg up across his other leg, arms interlocked behind his head. Four and Wind are already leaning against each other, but seem to be taking a page out of Legend’s book, if the way they’re settling down on the ground is any indication. Warriors, also looking revolted by whatever is scorching over the fire, retreats a bit further back before settling down too, wrapping his scarf around himself. Sky is already asleep on the ground near the fire, seemingly unbothered by the smell. 

Twilight himself settles down decently close to Time, leaning against a tree as he tugs his fur pelt closer and leans back, staring up into the leaves above him. 

Whatever the case of this mysteriously empty Hyrule, they'll just have to wait to find out who their new teammate is. 

(And hopefully, find the answer on the unanswered question of “what happened here?”)

Sleep has never come to him easily, but tonight, he clocks out faster than ever before, propped against both the tree and the ground. The moon is high above them when he does fall asleep, thoughts and worries drifting out for the time being as his body relaxes. The stars are bright here. There are no settlements or towns to pollute the sky with light. 

He’s not sure if he’s grateful for that or not, but seeing a few stars does help him relax. There’s something freeing about the sky. 

He dreams of blonde hair and beautiful scars, but doesn’t remember when he wakes. 

—

The morning brings nothing but suffering when Hyrule attempts to cook over the fire again, leaving Legend and Four to pull together a quick snack instead. The pain continues as the sky darkens above them as they pack up camp, and rain begins to patter against the leaves above them. 

“Oh, shit.” Legend huffs, hair matted down against his face as the rain picks up and becomes heavier. 

Hyrule looks despondent. “Why couldn’t we have been teleported somewhere near a town…!”

The rain slows but the sky remains gray above them, and Time makes the call that it’s time to keep moving. There’s what appears to be a path when they finally make it out of the trees, and the world they’re greeted by is something Twilight  _ definitely  _ recalls. Big, wide, and open. Mountainous, dreary, with a certain air of loneliness that hangs around him as he stares into the cloudy sky.

There’s a sudden rush of hope that hits him as they start down the dirt path.  _ If he’s right…!  _

He hangs back a bit, continuing to stare at the mountains. 

“Pup?” Time calls back gently, and he tears his eyes away to hurry after them before they get too far separated. “Anything familiar?”

“Maybe.” He says, unwilling to admit to anything until he’s certain, regardless of how hopeful he is. 

Time regards him curiously and he  _ almost  _ tries to explain himself, but Wind lets out a shout that distracts them from the front of the group, sprinting ahead with a delighted cry. Everyone rushes after him, boots slapping against dirt and grass in their haste to catch up. 

It’s a stable, a warm place to rest until they’re ready to go again. There’s a few people lingering on the outskirts, generally with horses, but most others seem to be tucked away inside and out of the rain. 

Four actually makes it inside before Wind, but only barely, as the blue boy barrels in right after him and smacks into the smallest hero. Time is the last one in, having waited until everyone else was safely inside before entering. The interior isn’t huge, but it will do. Several beds are scattered about, the desk, table and chairs, several hylians milling about…

Twilight recognizes this place. 

And it seems someone recognizes him too. 

As everyone else catches their breath, leaning against each other or against a wall, Twilight approaches the man behind the counter, hesitant to even ask anything to confirm his suspicions. 

“It’s been a while.” The man says with a small smile. “Your friend was here just a few days ago! I was wondering if you’d stop by too.”

He was right. He knows where they are, who they’re here for. 

“Damn.” He hisses instead, pressing his hands together worriedly. “I’m trying to catch up with him, do you know where he went?”

“Sure, back toward Central Hyrule. Bit of a wild one, isn’t he?”

_ Oh, you have no idea.  _ He smiles ruefully and thanks the man, turning to make his way back toward the others, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. “Know where we gotta go.”

Seven pairs of eyes snap toward him in surprise, and Four is the first to speak; “What?”

“So we  _ are  _ looking for another hero, then.” Sky says softly, squeezing rain out of his cape. 

“Where’re we going?” Wind asks excitedly, hands pressed together. “I wonder if I’ll still be the youngest…!”

“Obviously you will.” Legend says dryly, ringing his cap out in a similar fashion to Sky’s cape. “Pipsqueak.”

“Hey,” Four says mildly, shaking his head roughly. Water sprays out of his hair, causing everyone to groan at the treatment. Warriors ends up taking the brunt of the spray, having been standing closest to Four. The smallest hero turns his eyes on Twilight. “Where are we going?”

“Southeast.” He says, attempting to draw out the map in his mind. “Just following a path down.” And then he could be anywhere on Hyrule Field, and that will be a nightmare to search through. 

Time nods, a look of understanding flashing across his features briefly. “Let’s get started, then. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

A few groaned complaints, and they’re headed off again. 

He can only hope it’s not as far as he remembers. 

—

_ “Nice outfit,” The Hero of Twilight says from where he’s seated on the rocks by the oasis. “Lookin’ good.” _

_ The Hero of Wild spins once and then bats a hand at him. “I know! I make a pretty good vai!”  _

_ He rolls his eyes and leans back. “Sorry, cub. You’re on your own here. Not going in that heat.” _

_ Wild squints at him, Sheikah Slate dangling from his fingertips. “What? Noo. I got you a cool outfit and everything.” He says, and taps the screen. There’s a burst of light and he’s clutching several clothing items. “Promise it’s not the vai outfit.” _

_ Twilight takes it gingerly, sweat beading his forehead. It’s HOT in the desert, even at the bazaar.  _

_ Well, Wild was honest, at least. It’s definitely not the vai outfit, since there’s barely a top. It does look much more comfortable than the heavy gear he’s currently wearing… _

_ “It's hot here.” He says to justify his decision as he begins to shed his gear.  _

_ “Sick.” Wild says, back turned to give him privacy. “Now you can help me hunt down shrines again!” _

_ “Oh, goddess, no. Happy hunting.” _

_ “Twi—!” _

—

Of course, the journey to Central Hyrule feels too easy. There’s very few monsters, very few hylians, and Time hasn’t even questioned his knowledge on this place once. The sun is setting , the sky darkening further beyond the few clouds that still linger overhead. They crossed a bridge at some point, chatting tiredly amongst themselves 

They have to be nearly there when the moon peeks out over the horizon and Time inhales sharply at the sight of it. 

It’s red, eerie red. 

“What the  _ fuck. _ ” Legend voices, somewhere near the back of the group. “What the  _ fuck!”  _

“Oh, shit.” Twilight mutters, as the air begins to grow thick around them. “Don’t panic. It’s a blood moon.”

“The  _ hell  _ does that mean—!” Legend barks back, sounding more than a little frazzled. 

“It’s— uh—” He trails off, as the clouds race overhead and the sky becomes red. The air is choking them with red streaks as the moon rises. “It’s a relatively common event here where all dead monsters— Come back to life.”

Wind lets out an anxious cry at that, gripping Captain’s scarf with one hand, the other over his nose and mouth. “Common?!”

It’ll be over in a second, it always is. The sky becomes redder and redder, a bright, bloody color. The air is thick, tense, suffocating, and then just like that, the sky clears and the air filters and everyone feels safe enough to breathe in. The moon remains red, hung in the sky above them as they catch their breath in the grassy field. 

“What was that…!” Hyrule squeaks out, eyes wide and searching.

“That was… Really fast.” Four observes, sword in hand as he begins to sheath it away again. 

Time grunts, slipping his own sword back into its sheath as he assesses the group. “If monsters really do come back to life, we had better be extra careful. We don’t know what was here before, and—”

There’s a red dot that focuses in on Time’s chest, and everybody freezes as the dot blinks faster and faster. There’s an eerie beeping sound that becomes rapidly faster. 

“Get to cover!” Twilight screams, and everyone dives in opposite directions as the dot disappears and a beam of light hits the spot Time has been seconds prior. 

It’s a guardian, active and very much alive, and it’s completely mobile as well. 

His heart thuds in his chest as he turns, watches it’s eye focus on Wind. 

“WIND!” Four yells over the alarming beeping. “WIND, CAREFUL!”

Wind dives forward just as the guardian shoots, and the beam narrowly avoids the blue boy. “Oh, GODDESS—”

Legend ducks around Four, sword drawn, ready to charge. 

“DON’T!” Twilight hollers, and Legend freezes. “They’re armor is too thick, we need to GO!”

And everyone sprints. The guardian gives chase, thumping against the grass behind them, beeping insistently. 

Twilight feels, rather than sees when the red dot focuses on his back. 

“TWILIGHT—” Time roars from slightly up ahead, reaching back for his sword. 

He doesn’t get the chance to respond, because the guardian fires, he trips over a rock, and hits the ground hard. 

Someone dives in front of him, obscuring his view of the guardian, and the beam smashes against a shield that’s thrown back in the nick of time. The beam bounces back and strikes the guardian, sending it reeling momentarily. 

There’s a hand on his arm, yanking him up. He recognizes the hand as Time’s, hauling him to his feet. “Twilight, pup!—”

“Holy SHIT!” Legend yowls at the same time. “HO-LY  _ SHIT!”  _

He blinks the stars out of his eyes and turns slightly, leaning in part against Time’s hand, turning just in time to watch the person that saved him fire a brilliant blue arrow into the guardian’s eye. It explodes with an awful screeching sound, parts flying around them. He squints through the dirt that’s sent flying as well, pushing himself off of Time with a mumbled thanks.

The hylian is slinging the bow back over their shoulder when Twilight finally catches their eye and holds their gaze. Bright blue eyes, scarred cheeks. Everything feels extra quiet, extra silent as Twilight’s heart soars. 

And then with a cry his savior is sprinting toward him, closing the gap with fast steps as Twilight shoves himself off of Time and runs to meet them, reaching out as they slam their full body weight into him. He gets his arms around them in time to keep them both from toppling, as they bury their face into the crook of his neck with a funny noise that sounds suspiciously like a sob. 

They sink to the ground together, Twilight with his arms around them with one hand buried in their hair, and them with their hands gripping his tunic and cheek on his shoulder. 

“Hey, cub.” He says after a beat, voice cracking, eyes watery, shoving his nose into their hair with a sharp inhale. “How’s that sword of yours?”

Wild sobs, but it sounds more like a cross between a cry and a laugh. “Probably broken.” He says, shaky, fisting the back of his tunic as the moon continues to make its way across the night sky. The guardian is a distant memory as they remain tangled together in the grass. “You came back!”

He grins into the smaller hero’s hair. “Of course I did.”

“Of course you did,” Wild mocks weakly, face still tucked against his collar. “Oh, goddess, you almost just—”

“What the HELL is going on?” Legend interrupts from several feet away, voice shrill. It’s loud enough that they both flinch, Twilight curling over Wild a bit more, Wild clenching his tunic harder. 

There’s a solid  _ thwack _ and a yelp that sounds suspiciously like Warriors smacking the back of Legend’s head. Twilight smiles into Wild’s hair again. 

“Made yourself some new friends, huh?” Wild asks dryly, although he doesn’t move to release him or back away, so Twilight doesn’t either. “Been busy?”

“You have no idea.” He says tiredly, ruffling the boy’s hair. “And that’s why we’re here, I guess.” 

“And here I was, thinking it was ‘cause you missed me.” The boy says jokingly, but there’s an undertone I’d hurt that’s hard to miss. 

Twilight shakes his head, squeezing him gently. “I never stopped looking for a way back.”

Wild makes a wounded noise at that, releasing his tunic to rub his eyes. “You’re such a big softie, old man.”

“You’re one to talk, little cretin—” He starts, grinning, when Warriors interrupts.

“Twilight?” Warriors asks, carefully curious. “Gonna introduce us?”

He rolls his eyes, grateful his back is to the group, before standing and hauling Wild up with him, even as they release each other from their death grips. The younger boy swats his hand away when he goes to ruffle his hair. “This is the Hero of this Hyrule, the Hero of Wild. Wild, these are the people I’ve been traveling with.”

There’s a brief pause as they all size each other up hesitantly. 

The introductions are quick, just fast greetings as Wild nods along, and soon enough, the meaningful glances Time has been sending their way are overwhelmingly constant and it’s finally officially time for an explanation. 

It’s… A  _ long  _ story. They try to keep it short, skipping the unnecessary bits about the amount of times Wild had been struck by lightning and various other deadly weapons, attempting to keep it quick and light. There’s a lot to tell, certainly. Waking up as a wolf had been confusing for  _ him _ , so Hylia only knows it’s probably even more confusing for everyone else, though they elect to keep the wolf itself out of the story. 

Wild remains tucked against his side as he attempts to explain the Calamity to the best of his ability. Wind is staring up at Wild in awe, eyes big and bright. 

The sun has already begun to rise by the time they finish, seated in the grass together as they listen. Time has plenty of questions.  _ How long ago? When did you arrive in your time again? How long had you travelled together? Twilight, were you able to go everywhere in this world? Wild, did you say one-hundred year long nap?  _ They answer as best they can.  _ A while ago. Barely three days before the start of the current group had arrived to pick him up. A year or maybe more? Sure, within reason. Yeah, it was great, don’t remember anything.  _ The questions keep coming. 

Eventually, the questions die out as they stare at each other curiously, before Legend breaks the silence again. “As far as ‘welcome to the group’ parties go, I gotta admit, this one was kinda sick.”

Warriors smacks the back of his head again. Four and Hyrule both dissolve into laughter. 

Wild remains pressed against him as they begin to start the trek back toward the stable, back toward where they had first come through the rift, one hand gripping Twilight’s sleeve, the other fiddling with the Sheikah Slate. Together, the group manages to recount some of their own adventures, and explain what they know so far. Wild takes it in stride, offers a few suggestions, takes the cooking supplies from Hyrule, and decides he’ll take on cooking duty. 

Twilight squeezes his shoulder with a smile that Wild returns nervously. If anybody notices how physically close they are to each other for the next several days, they don’t say anything. Time gives him a knowing look when they set up camp for the night and he and Wild curl up together. He doesn’t like that look. He’s just relieved his little brother is somehow in one piece. He just… Wants to be sure. It’s been far too long for his liking. 

Twilight ends up taking the first watch that first night as they bunk down in the grassy field out by the stable. Generally, their sleeping arrangements stay roughly the same. Legend and Hyrule will be back-to-back. Wind, Four, and Sky will be splayed across each other. Warriors tends to cuddle under his own scarf. Twilight used to sleep close to Time, but with the arrival of Wild, he finds himself straying further from his mentor and curling up with his protege. It’s just… He’s not quite ready to let him go yet. 

Time pats his shoulder as he passes by to relax near the fire, and Twilight watches the rest of the group fall asleep one by one. He tosses another log onto the fire when it gets too low that it doesn’t already anymore warmth. Wild shuffles closer in his sleep, head resting on Twilight’s lap. He ruffles the boy’s hair fondly as the light from the fire casts a soft glow on everything. Wild looks peaceful. Soft. 

Twilight smiles to himself and tucks his pelt tighter around his brother. Tosses another log onto the fire, watches the flames roar in response as Sky murmurs in his sleep and Wind snores. 

It feels a little bit more like home.

**Author's Note:**

> There is one more part, so now it’s just a waiting game of “how long will you take to write THIS one?? Couple years, maybe??” and to that I respond “yeah probably”
> 
> Thank you for reading!!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [twilight in botw](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26363824) by [1Bekah4](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Bekah4/pseuds/1Bekah4)




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